RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

8 . It is а moot point vchether the political f actor was decisive. Others, liKe O'Mallev (1988 a), argue that the opposition from the established companies fearful of the loss of advertising revenue vvas more important. Certainly , a number of the кеу bidders for f ranchises , for example in Manchester , had a 'radical' interpretation of their role (O'Rourke , 1986). On the other hand , the existing franchise holders are now almost all making топеу anđ would prefer that the change in regulation was so conducted as to ensure that they came out of it in a strong position (Anon 0,1987; Higham , 1 988 e ) . The Government has been sympathetic to these pleas but at the same time other f orces , for example , the ađvertisers , who want a guick deregulation to increase comoetition and thus advertising costs , are urging a different anđ guicker strategy (Anon E, 1987; Cobbe, 1988). It seems to me that the need to balance between the demands of different pressures is certainly the background to тапу of the policy shifts of this and other governments but it is the political worry that is certainly unigue , if not dscisive , in the case of rađio . 9 . I tend to the view that proletarian revolution is unlikely between completing this paper in June and its delivery in late September . 1 0, According to John Hochheimer , there are always problems in đefining 4he community' and access to air-time in stations which are actually on the air . In Britain , these problems have erupted before апуопе gets to the microphone . The CRA , for example, has had a series of splits of the representation of blacks and other ethnic groups (Anon C,1987: Re11y,1986). There are other diff erences , for example between those who think that l allowing people a voice' means stations chargmg aspirant DJ's for their own programs and those with more orthodox and less commercial views (McLeod , 1988). One can certainly understand the logic of the position which argues that if those who wish to own broadcasting outlets have to рау for the privilege , then there is no reason why those who wish to make use of the facility they provide should рау , too, although this is very distant from some of the hopes about such small-scale stations .

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